Skip to main content

3 Reasons to Double-Check Employees' Immigration Status

By William Vogeler, Esq. on June 11, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

It's about time to double-check your workers' legal status.

Emerging federal policies -- such as restricting travel, building a wall, and deporting undocumented children -- obviously target immigrants in America. But the laws affect American companies as much as anybody.

Employers have to keep an eye on the following issues:

I-9 Investigations

Make sure your company uses the right forms when hiring workers. The original I-9 form, part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, has been updated over the years.

The latest version became mandatory in 2017, and signaled possible investigations and enforcement actions against employers.

DACA Disaster

President Trump has tried to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which would send undocumented children back to their home countries. A federal judge set aside the rescission, but gave the president 90 days to fix some legal deficiencies.

In the meantime, what will your workers do? If their children have to go, will the parents will follow?

Gig Economics

The gig economy is big, what with Uber, Lyft, and Door Dash cashing in everywhere. However, their drivers may be especially vulnerable to immigration enforcement.

Pablo Villavicencio, for example, went to deliver a pizza. When he showed up at one location, "la migra" was waiting.

For those English-only employers, that means he wasn't coming back to work.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard